The Password is Courage

The Password Is Courage is a 1962 World War II film, directed, produced and written by Andrew L. Stone, and starring Dirk Bogarde. The film is a lighthearted take on the true story of Sergeant-Major Charles Coward, and the screenplay is based on the biography of Coward written by John Castle. Charles Coward is a senior British NCO incarcerated in the POW camp Stalag VIII-B. He encourages his fellow inmates to escape, and tries to humiliate the German guards at every opportunity. He first attempts to escape by masquerading as a wounded German soldier. He is taken to hospital, where his... identity is revealed, but not before being awarded the Iron Cross as he lies in his hospital bed. He then digs a tunnel, and, using a map he has obtained from the Polish resistance, escapes with fellow prisoner Bill Pope . They are captured at a train station. After the failure of that escape, they then manage to escape again by masquerading as workmen clearing rubble in a rural area. After learning that the American front line is only a mile away, they climb onto a handily parked fire engine.
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